Crowdfunding Startups: What Excites Me, What Worries Me

There has been a bit of action for a while now in the crowdfunding world, and certain startups have been able to get themselves off the ground using the Kickstarter / Indiegogo style sites. By and large, these types of financings have gone to companies that are building physical products, digital games, etc. Fundings have also happened for some causes, films, art projects that are typically not businesses. Equity crowdfunding isn’t legal yet in the US. But presumably, it will become so. In Europe, it is legal. Hopefully, other parts of the world will also start seeing the infrastructure develop.

For our audience, the primary concern is financing digital startups: technology and technology-enabled services. Typically, these are difficult to assess, high-risk companies, and amateur investors from the ‘crowd’ are unlikely to be able to perform adequate due diligence to have a sophisticated investment thesis.

However, there is one category of investors who will have an excellent vantage point from which to assess new ventures.

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Who Are The Top VCs in Silicon Valley Today?

I have been having this discussion with a few people whose analysis of the venture capital industry I respect. The exercise is not just to assess who are the top investors, but more, to assess where the industry is going, and where the next generation of venture scale companies are going to come from. In this post, I will provide a framework for the discussion. Please weigh in with your thoughts.

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Seed Capital: Inventus Capital Partners

1M/1M ambassador Irina Patterson talks with Parag Dhol of Inventus Capital Partners.

Irina Patterson: Please tell us briefly about your personal background and about your fund.

Parag Dhol: Inventus Capital Partners is a U.S.–India venture firm managed by successful entrepreneurs and industry operating veterans who have backed over 100 entrepreneurs with operations in India and/or Silicon Valley. Inventus backs entrepreneurs first and foremost. The companies financed by Inventus include redBus (acquired by MIH/Naspers and our biggest success), Vizury, Credit Sesame, Savaari, PoshMark, Power2sme, Policybazaar and eDreams, among others. Inventus started investing out of Fund-II earlier this year. >>>

How to Navigate India’s Seed Capital Gap

India has a minuscule seed capital ecosystem. Entrepreneurs thus have to be really creative to survive.

My new piece How To Navigate The Seed Capital Gap in India offers a synthesis of how entrepreneurs are getting around. Two companion pieces offer perspective on why the ecosystem is developing so slowly: Seed Investors in India: Why So Few? and Venture Capital in India: Age of Reckoning. >>>

Is Too Much Liquidity In The Angel Capital Market Good or Bad?

Too much dumb money rushing into the angel investment game is inevitable with crowdsourcing, AngelList and other innovations. Innovation is welcome. Liquidity for startups is welcome. How much is too much?

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The Indian Startup Eco-System Wants Acqui-hiring!

I spent large chunks of time in the last two days with my friend Sharad Sharma, one of the true deep thinkers of the Indian startup eco-system. I first met Sharad when he invited me to co-chair the Nasscom Product Conclave in Bangalore with him in 2010. I really enjoyed working with him, and over the years, have come to appreciate what he is trying to do for the Indian eco-system.

Sharad, by the way, is one of the 20 odd effective angel investors who invest in the technology sector in India. While the total number of angel investors is much larger, many of them come from outside the sector, and hence are not capable of leading deals. If you look at Indian Angel Network or Mumbai Angels, for instance, a vast majority of the angels made their money elsewhere (like real estate), and often find it difficult to fully grasp what’s happening in the software, mobile or Internet businesses, let alone networking or semiconductor. Thus, these lead angels are critical for the eco-system to mature.

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What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know (Part 3)

Startups are a Social Good

by Brian S. Cohen

[This is the third in a four-part series of excerpts from Brian S. Cohen and John Kador’s book, What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know, which is available on Amazon and at independent bookstores.]

I approach angel investing with a basic premise: startups are good for society and they need angel investors to help them get started and build a strong foundation. That’s why I wanted to write a guide to bring entrepreneurs and angels investors together for their mutual benefit and the benefit of all startup communities. >>>

What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know (Part 2)

What I’m Looking for in an Entrepreneur

By guest author Brian S. Cohen

[This is the second in a four-part series of excerpts from Brian S. Cohen and John Kador’s forthcoming book, What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know, which is available on Amazon and at independent bookstores.]

What am I looking for in an entrepreneur? I can answer that question in one word.

You.

Yes, you, the humble entrepreneur, are the single most important element of a potential investment. The entire purpose of your pitch is to convince me that you are the special entrepreneur in whom I feel comfortable investing my money and time. >>>